University Admissions: The Time of Many "Doors" and Many Negatives is Over

Before 2025: Many different "doors", negative consequences

In the past 3-4 years, university admission regulations have undergone many major changes. With more autonomy given to universities, including admissions, many "doors" to universities have also been opened.

In previous years, statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training showed that there were more than 20 university admission methods . Just counting the traditional method of considering high school graduation exam scores, there were many new admission combinations in addition to the traditional combinations (exam subject combinations).

In addition, there are other new methods such as admission based on high school academic scores (transcripts), foreign language certificates, scores from competency and thinking tests organized by universities in Vietnam, and international competency tests (commonly known as SAT).

There are regulations on more than a dozen admission methods based on graduation exam scores, ability and thinking assessment test scores, certificates, direct interviews, etc.

Too many admission methods and combinations give candidates many opportunities to enter university. In the years 2022-2024, early admission methods (by transcripts, ability assessment tests, thinking, foreign language certificates, etc.) make many candidates secure their "ticket" to university before they have even completed the program. Nationwide, there are about 100 universities using the transcript admission method (or only considering transcripts, or combining transcripts with other methods).

The situation of "beautifying" transcripts for admission consideration has arisen. Before 2025, most schools using the transcript consideration method only used the students' 5-term study results (grades 10, 11 and semester 1 of grade 12). This led to the situation where students who were eligible for early admission neglected their studies in semester 2 of grade 12, failing to meet the program requirements.

Some schools reserve a large portion of their quotas for early admission, which puts many candidates in disadvantaged and rural areas who do not have access to early admission methods at a disadvantage as this group of candidates can only be admitted using high school graduation exam scores with a very low percentage of remaining quotas.

It is quite common for a candidate to be notified by 4-5 universities, or even more, that he or she is "eligible for admission". In order to "win" candidates, many schools push up their admissions schedules, along with policies on scholarships, gifts, and money for candidates who commit to enrolling. There are schools with less appeal (including many private schools) that lower their standards with the method of considering transcripts, accepting candidates with low input quality.

Adjustments to limit negativity

The latest point of the 2025 enrollment is that the Ministry of Education and Training has removed the early admission rule (schools will only directly admit students who have won national excellent student awards and national science and technology competitions, students in international and regional Olympic teams). Although schools are not limited in the admission methods and combinations, they will have to consider them simultaneously and after the high school graduation exam scores are available.

Candidates and parents are very interested in changes in admissions in 2025.

To ensure fairness between candidates participating in the admission process using different methods and combinations, the Ministry of Education and Training also stipulates that schools must calculate and convert the scores of each method and combination to a common admission score. The quota ratio for each method and combination of admission will not be divided as before, but after converting to the common admission score, it will be taken from high to low until the quota is exhausted. With this regulation, candidates in disadvantaged areas can only participate in the admission process using the high school graduation exam score method, which will ensure fairness like candidates applying for admission using other methods.

The Ministry of Education and Training also requires schools that use transcripts for admission to use the results of the entire 12th grade year (instead of only using the results of the first semester of grade 12 as in previous years). This prevents students who are eligible for admission from neglecting the second semester of grade 12.

Currently, there are more than 100 universities that have announced to continue using the admission method based on transcripts. Among them, some schools use transcripts of 6 semesters at high school level, some schools only use grade 12 transcripts, and some schools combine transcript scores with other requirements. Some large schools use the transcript review method but with the requirement that the graduation exam scores (of subjects that match the scores of subjects in the transcript used for admission) must reach a certain level. For example, Foreign Trade University stipulates that the total score of 3 graduation exam subjects that match the admission combination based on transcripts must be 24 points or higher. This is only a condition for admission based on transcripts.

Candidates are not limited in the number of university admission wishes. However, to avoid the situation of "fake" too much, the Ministry of Education and Training continues to stipulate that candidates must register for admission on the Ministry of Education and Training's general admission system and arrange their wishes in order of priority.

The admission software will run a "virtual filter" to only allow candidates to be admitted to one single wish with the highest priority. Candidates who have been admitted to one wish will not be considered by the software for subsequent wishes. This will limit the situation of "passing too many schools at the same time" as before. However, compared to before when there was only one door, candidates now have many doors to enter university. This helps candidates have more opportunities and the ability to be admitted to a university much higher than before.

In previous years, there were cases where candidates registered dozens of different wishes. Many candidates also chose majors/schools with high chances of passing to "prevent failure". This means that besides the wishes that candidates really want but have a slim chance, there will be wishes that are sure to pass.

For candidates who aim to "get into any university", with the current admission regulations, it will be very easy to achieve. This has two sides, on the positive side, the opportunity to access university is more open to all candidates. But on the negative side, it will increase the situation of young people studying the wrong profession that is suitable for them.

Some young people accept low-quality training institutions because they "must pass the university entrance exam at all costs". On the contrary, there are universities that "admit students by all means", regardless of whether the quality of candidates meets training requirements.

(To be continued)

Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/tuyen-sinh-dai-hoc-het-thoi-nhieu-cua-nhieu-tieu-cuc-20250328155504676.htm